SHA-256

BlockworksJul 25, 2019 ⋅ 2 min read

Written by Max Hinchman

Introduction

SHA-256 stands for Secure Hashing Algorithm and was developed by the National Security Agency. It is one of 6 different types of the SHA hashing algorithms, with each version varying in size of output, block size, and message size. SHA-256 is the hashing algorithm used in the bitcoin blockchain and is also used by all of the major SSL Certificate issuers.

The process of converting data into a strings of text through a complex mathematical function is known as hashing. SHA-256 is the type of the hashing algorithm that is used in the bitcoin blockchain. The hashing process starts with whenever transactions are broadcast on the bitcoin network, the miners start to organize the information into strings of text. Eventually the process leads the miners hashing the nonce, the previous block’s hash, and the root hash of the new transaction data. The miners then repeatedly hash this combination of information, using different nonces each time, until a miner finds the valid block hash.

In SHA-256 hash algorithms can take up to 2.3 exabytes of data and transform into a string of data that is 256 bits. A hash function is a one-way function and is practically impossible to reverse. Therefore, you can go from the input data to the hash output but you can not go from the hash to the input data.

Suggested Reading

Hashing with SHA-256 by Cedric Belelt

The beautiful hash algorithm by Steven Ellis

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Outline
  • Introduction
  • Suggested Reading